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Last weekend of January promises to be fun in Toronto

Areal view of sparkling downtown of Toronto during magic blue hour on a snowy day in December. GETTY IMAGES/ Katrin Ray Shumakov

Congratulations! You have made it to the last weekend of January, and in two months, it will be spring. You’ve really pushed through this month despite the post-holiday fatigue and roller coaster weather. So to reward yourself, check out one of the many events taking place in Toronto.

Winterlicious
To those winter fans out there, do you ever feel that if you voice your opinion on how much you love winter, people gang up on you? Believe me, some of us know the feeling. If you take a step back and look beyond the cold, you will find winter gets a bad reputation. Yes, the cold can be bitter, but the season can also bring happy things like winter sports, taking a walk in newly-fallen snow, venturing outdoors for a community event, and taking part in one of the most-anticipated events of the season — Winterlicious.

This year, more than 200 restaurants in Toronto will be taking part in the annual foodie festival, which offers three-course prix fixe lunch and dinner menus. Seventeen of those restaurants will be King Street. As part of the “Everyone is King” fanfare, restaurant-goers can also enjoy other festivities including ice sculptures, fire performers and art installations, and warming stations along the street. The Toronto Parking Authority is also offering up to $5 off parking in the area of the streetcar pilot project.

The culinary event starts Friday and runs until Feb. 8. Click here for a map view of the restaurants.

Icewine Festival
If you are a lover of ice wine, then this is the event you’ve been waiting for. A taste of winter is available this weekend at the Niagara-On-The-Lake Icewine Festival. The event will kick off with a ‘sparkle and ice’ gala on Friday night at the Grande Hall in the Courthouse. Tickets to that event are $95. Then, the historic Queen Street will be transformed into a winter wonderland, with 26 wineries on hand to pour out their liquid gold. Outdoor shopping and food samples from local businesses will also be available all weekend.

Ice Breakers
Who says outdoor festivals only take place in the summer? If you love art and the outdoors, a free interactive exhibit is taking place on Toronto’s waterfront, featuring five large installations by international architects and designers. The theme of the second-annual event is “constellation.” The installations are located on the Queens Quay between Spadina Avenue and York Street. One of the installations was designed by architects Joao Sousa and Joana Silva from Portugal. The pair created a giant wind chime that you can walk through. The festival runs until Feb. 25.

Fun at the ROM
This weekend is your chance to journey back in time for some prehistoric fun. The Royal Ontario Museum will be hosting Fossil Fest this Sunday. The event is on from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free with museum admission. You’ll get the chance to meet ROM researchers and discover how fossils trace the incredible history of life on earth.

Also at the ROM this weekend is a new original exhibition called Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art. The exhibition, which opens Saturday and runs until April 22, will bring together nine Canadian contemporary artists to explore art, historical identity, and the deep rooted histories of Black culture in Canada.

NHL All-Star weekend
It will be hockey all the time this weekend … and how this different from any other weekend? Fans will be glued to their televisions as hockey players — including Toronto Maple Leafs centre Austen Matthews — take to the ice for the NHL All-Star weekend in Tampa Bay. The skills competition is on Saturday while the All-Star Game itself is Sunday afternoon. Both will air on Sportsnet.

The countdown to #AHLAllStar is officially on! Catch all the action this weekend on Sportsnet.

Kilt Skate
Scots and Scots-at-heart will be bearing some knee this Sunday for the Sir John A’s Great Canadian Kilt Skate. Celebrating our country’s first PM and his Scottish roots, the fourth annual event will hit the ice at Nathan Phillips square from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. You don’t have to be Scottish, or wear a kilt, but you should be ready to party.

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